1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to methods and systems for telecommunications, and in particular, to methods and systems for processing calls.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today""s public telephone network there is no convenient way to return a missed call to a private number. Typically, if the called party does not have the caller""s phone number, the called party will not be able to return the call. To address this problem, there exist conventional telephony systems that do offer a convenient return call function to a public telephone number. These conventional telephony systems allow a user who misses a call to return the call by entering a predetermined touch tone code, such as *69, but do not offer this feature when the caller has a xe2x80x9cprivatexe2x80x9d number, that is, has caller-ID blocking turned on.
The present invention is related to methods and systems for a xe2x80x9creturn-callxe2x80x9d process. In contrast to many conventional telephony systems, the return call process in accordance with the present invention enables a call to be returned to a xe2x80x9cprivatexe2x80x9d calling number that has caller-ID blocking. Further, the present invention allows the return process to be performed without revealing the return call phone number to the person returning the call.
This is in contrast to conventional telephony systems. By way of example, if a missed call on a busy, ring-no-answer, or do-not-disturb condition is answered by a Voice Mail or Internet Call Answering service, conventional telephony systems do not offer a way to return the call if it originated from a private number.
One example embodiment of the present invention will now be described in greater detail. While this example embodiment includes an Internet call answering apparatus and method, the present invention is not so limited. A call to a called party""s phone line is forwarded to a call manager system, along with signaling information that includes the calling party""s phone number. The signaling can be performed using SS7 or other signaling methods that provide caller identification even if the caller has caller-ID blocking on. The call may be forwarded because the called party""s phone line is busy, the called party failed to answer the phone, or because the called party has activated a do-not-disturb function.
The call manager system answers the forwarded call. A determination is made from the signaling information as to whether the caller""s phone number is xe2x80x9cprivate,xe2x80x9d that is, whether the calling party has Caller-ID blocking activated, or whether the phone number is xe2x80x9cpublic,xe2x80x9d that is, does not have Caller-ID blocking activated.
The call manager system notifies the called party of the call. The notification can be presented on a web page accessed by the called party""s computer terminal over the Internet or other computer network, can be emailed to the called party""s email address, or can be transmitted to the called party""s computer terminal over the Internet or other computer network upon detecting that the called party is online, whereupon the notification is displayed by a telecommunications client application executing on the computer terminal. If the phone number is public, then the notification informs the called party of the call and displays the calling number or otherwise identifies the caller.
If the call manager determines that the phone number is private, in order to protect the caller""s privacy the caller""s phone number is either not transmitted with the notification, or is transmitted but is not displayed to the called party. The telecommunications client application then offers to return the call using either the called party""s conventional POTs telephone or via the computer terminal, if the computer terminal is VoIP enabled. The return call is then performed in accordance with the called party""s selection. If the called party elects to have the call returned using the POTs telephone, then the computer modem dials the phone number provided in the call manager message, and the called party picks up the telephone handset to communicate with the original caller in a normal fashion. If the called party elects to have the call placed using VoIP, then the VoIP software transmits the phone number provided in the call manager message to a VoIP gateway which connects the call to the original caller. The called party can then communicate with the original caller using the computer terminal handset.
Alternatively, to further protect the caller""s privacy when the phone number is private and might show up in the call detail in a phone bill, the return call is placed using a bridging operation performed by the call manager. Using this technique, the caller""s telephone number does not need to be transmitted to the called party""s computer terminal. Rather, the client application, web site, or notified device sends a return call request back to the call manager system identifying the call to bridge. The call manager system then calls the called party""s (subscriber""s) phone number and the caller""s private phone number and bridges the two calls. Because the call was not placed from the called party""s (subscriber""s) residence, the caller""s private telephone number will not be exposed in the subscriber""s measured wireline, wireless, or long distance phone bill.
One embodiment of the present invention is a method of performing a return-call operation, comprising: receiving a forwarded call originally directed by a caller to a first telephone line associated with a user; receiving signaling information, including a phone number associated with the caller; determining whether the phone number is one of a private phone number and a public phone number; generating a display message, the display message notifying the user of the call, wherein the display message includes the phone number when the phone number is public, and the display message does not include the phone number when the phone number is private; and enabling the user to return the call to the caller without revealing the phone number to the user when the phone number is private.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of processing a call the method comprising: receiving a first call from a caller at a call management system, wherein the first call had been intended for a first telephone line associated with a called party and forwarded to the call management system; receiving at the call management system a private phone number associated with the caller; initiating the transmission of a message over a computer network to a computer terminal used by the called party, the message configured to provide a notification related to the call without displaying the private phone number; and enabling the called party to return the call to the caller.
Still another embodiment of the present invention is a method of performing a return-call operation, comprising: receiving a first plurality of forwarded calls originally directed by a corresponding plurality of callers to a first telephone line associated with a user; receiving signaling information for the plurality of callers, the signaling information including phone numbers corresponding to the callers; determining for each of the first plurality of phone numbers whether the phone number is one of a private phone number and a public phone number; generating a display message, the display message notifying the caller of the calls, wherein the display message includes for each of the first plurality of calls the corresponding phone number when the corresponding phone number is public, and the display message does not include the corresponding phone number when the corresponding phone number is private; receiving an instruction from the user to return one of the plurality of calls, wherein the one of the plurality of calls is associated with a first private phone number; and initiating the call return to the first private phone number at least partly in response to receiving the instruction.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a call processing apparatus, comprising: a first instruction configured to answer a first call from a caller, wherein the first call was directed to a first telephone line associated with a first user and was forwarded to a second telephone line; a second instruction configured to receive a private phone number associated with the caller; and a third instruction configured to transmit a message over a network to a computer terminal associated with the first user, the message configured to provide a notification of the first call without revealing the private phone number to the first user; and a fourth instruction configured to return the call to the caller without revealing the private phone number to the first user in response to a command from the first user.
Thus, the present invention provides systems and methods for a call-return system that enables an online user to be notified of a missed call and to initiate a return-call process using a computer terminal, even when the caller phone number is private.